


You Are the Music In Me

by charmainders



Series: GotG || Peter & Gamora [8]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Music, Post-Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Pre-Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 10:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15022643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmainders/pseuds/charmainders
Summary: For 20 years, Gamora listens to nothing but the same music continuously that plays in the back of her mind. Even if she doesn't want to admit it, that despite not understanding any of it, it's one way that she learns to cope.Things were never the same the moment he placed the earphones on.





	You Are the Music In Me

_The universe_ , as it were, seemed to enjoy being cruel to her. Killing her parents right before her very eyes; being taken away to a place that she couldn't escape at all. Forced upon the idea that she was nothing more than just a weapon for the gains of her supposed parental figure, and torn apart was her young innocence, for metallic inserts and modifications that would drive her, bit by bit, to be both merciless and hardened.

Soon she'd earn the title of being the _deadliest woman in the galaxy._ She gained attention for slaughtering and tearing apart families for the sake of her father, for the gains of potentially wiping out populations and balancing the universe. Her fingers were crimson and sticky with the blood of the innocent; some just barely old enough to be going to school. Those were the nights where she found herself in her bed, the furthest one of all away from the rest of the children of Thanos, pushed up against the wall, crying her eyes out. It was the only time that she could fully grieve for the innocence of the lives she'd taken, and had no control of what had to be done.

There was no way out of any of this. No route to _redemption._

* * *

When it first began, she was absolutely confused.

Soulmates, as her parents told her as part of the many bedtime stories, would hear the music that their respective soulmate was listening to, in their minds. When her parents first met, the reason that they knew they were a perfect match for each other was because they both enjoyed the same type of music, on Zen-Whoberi. Even with poverty and the prospect of always being hungry, they remained happy together, and it was more than enough for them both. The story, regardless of how cheesy it was, always warmed Gamora's young heart. 

So when the music begins to play in her mind when she's still on her home-world, it leaves her absolutely confused. This version of whatever the hell she was hearing sounded _nothing_ like the music of the Zen-Whoberi. Bass heavy, full of tone-pitched noises that accompanied a particular rhythm and melody. She knows it's not anything she's remotely familiar with, since she has never heard anything like that on Zen-Whoberi. Even more confusing, there were voices that accompanied the music, sometimes not just one but two. Gamora could always make out the distinct singing of what perhaps sounded like a young boy, probably her age, and another female figure (perhaps his mother), who had an absolutely melodic voice that sounded like the birds that chirped at dawn.

_Hello, alien music._

She has absolutely no idea what any of the lyrics mean. Gamora can't even identify which planet this music belongs to, because none of the words make sense to her. She tried to bring this topic up to her mother once, but, uh. . .what was she expecting out of asking her mother, really? Her mother couldn't give her a conclusive answer, because sadly, even she didn't have an answer for Gamora. So she tried asking her father, but to no avail. She had no answers; no clues on who and where this music was coming from at all.

Though, what she does appreciate overtime is that the music varies. Unlike the music on Zen-Whoberi, the music she hears in her mind is sometimes fast-paced, almost dance worthy, and it gets her up on her feet. She'll tap her foot to the music, slightly nodding her head, and gently swing her hips along to the music while alone. However, the kind of music she does like is the kind that has a slow melody, with a rich voice that accompanies it. Gamora discovers that it usually plays during the night time, which she assumes her soulmate would be off to bed, tucked under the sheets. She can always hear the sweet singing of the female figure, and soon enough she associates that voice to the slow music that her soulmate listens to.

When she's taken away to live on Thanos' ship, _the Sanctuary,_ everything else disappears, but the music remains a constant. The first few years were rough. Thanos would constantly modify her body and it made her sick to her stomach; sometimes the fights and sparring with the respective orphaned children would cause her to have sleepless nights. During times like these, she relies on the music of her soulmate to be her anchor. The female figure (sort of) became her guardian; her soothing voice along with her soulmate's calmed her and eased her mind into a sleep, even if it was restless and short. In the nights where she deemed herself to be the most vulnerable, easily being the soft spot for an attack with a blade to her throat, she found comfort in listening to the music that her soulmate did.

* * *

The female voice never sings again, or at least she never hears her voice again, and Gamora is left with nothing but the boy who would gradually grow into one with a deep and masculine voice. She wasn't going to lie - she missed the way it was, with just her, her soulmate, and the female figure. The two of them had undoubtedly become a way for her to escape, to leave her current life for perhaps just a little while, away from the chaos of the world that continued to threaten to stab her in the back one day.

But now. . .she had one major problem.

Who the fuck, in the right state of mind, would only continue to listen to the same twelve songs?

Granted that she _did_ enjoy the twelve songs, and her translator implant (installed by Thanos as part of her enhancements) could translate most of the words of the twelve songs for her, she could swear that she was going to soon go absolutely insane. Not that it was his fault, she really couldn't blame him, but at the same time she's ready to perhaps just flip herself into the nearest wall and hope she would never have to hear any of that again, or perhaps tell Nebula to stab her during training. Yeah, that's a complete surefire, hundred percent, very solid idea to get her to die, and perhaps be able to blame Thanos for negligence in the process. 

But even so, despite how repetitive it got for her, Gamora found that those twelve songs, for the next two decades of her life as Thanos' personal weapon, would define her and become her anchor from going into literal insanity of living on _the Sanctuary._ In a way, it kept her going through the toughest days, in hopes of perhaps sinking a complete punch into her soulmate, for how much the songs drove her insane. Yep, she was pretty much motivated by that idea.

And so it keeps her going for the next two decades of her life.

* * *

She's busy cleaning out her swords, the metallic sound of the blade of the Godslayer gliding against her cleaning material like music to her ears. In a sickening way, two decades of her life had made these noises sound extremely normal. Every night was a routine - she'd take her blades out and sit by herself, wiping the blades and sharpening them, in preparation for the next day. It was effortless for her; she'd become so accustomed to it.

She's lost in her train of thoughts, staring out at the multi-coloured galaxy, filled with meteors, whilst the silvery shine on the blade reflects back at her. She sharpens the blade without second thought, easily gliding the material over and over. It's a while before she's accompanied by a particular brunette.

His footsteps aren't particularly light, so she's able to tell that he's approaching her. She doesn't look up to him, but she does hear him say, "Man, you won't believe what they charge for fuel out here. I might actually _lose_ money on this job."

Without second thought, she responds to him, glancing with a small smile before turning back to her blades. "My connection is making us wait."

"It's just a negotiation technique, trust me. This is _my_ specialty. Yours is more. . . _stab stab,_ these are my terms."

The grin widens on her face as she glances over again. From her perspective, she can see the green in his eyes, just light enough in the dark lighting of the galaxy. 

"My father didn't stress diplomacy."

"Thanos?"

This time her eyes gives him the death stare.

 _"He's not my father,"_ she snaps, before biting back her tongue and readjusting her tone, "When Thanos took my home-world, he killed my parents in front of me. He tortured me, turned me into a weapon." 

Her eyes glance downwards, her voice softening a little more.

"When he said he was going to destroy an entire planet for Ronan, I. . .I couldn't stand by," Gamora continues after a short pause, before glancing into Peter's eyes, now frowning at her story. She couldn't find any other words to describe why she wanted to escape. This was, perhaps, the furthest she was willing to go on why she ended up on Xandar, before they were arrested and sent to the Kyln. She can see a sort of sadness in Peter's eyes, and she doesn't wish to experience any of that emotion now, so instead she glances down to Peter's belt, where his respective blasters sat in their holsters, and some miscellaneous items, before her eyes catch sight of a orange, blue and silver casing, connected by a cord and aux plug.

"Why would you risk your life for this. . .?" She reaches to his belt (an awkward move, really, but she wasn't really thinking straight), and removes the device from its position on his belt, just at his hip. A particular button with a triangle on it intrigues her, and she runs her finger over it for a moment, before clicking it.

She swears she almost drops the device immediately when the current song roars to life in his headphones. She _recognizes_ the song. _No fucking way,_ she thinks - it can't be this coincidental. Of all people for it to be, it was him? And to make matters worse, she'd really wanted to punch him for the twelve repetitive songs that never stopped for the last two decades.

"My mother gave it to me," His voice interrupts, and her eyes look back up to him, noting the slight dampness of his eyes. "My mom liked sharing with me all the pop songs that she loved growing up. . .I happened to have it on me when I was. . .the day that she. . ." he hesitates, whilst reaching to her hands to take the device back to reattach it onto his belt, before speaking again when he'd found the right words, ". . .when I left Earth." 

Hell - that explained everything. He may just be another music-loving Terran, but Terrans were rare in space. Furthermore, she'd recognized his voice in her mind. If she could correctly piece together what he was saying - more than twenty years ago, when the female voice stopped, he had been taken from Earth, and this device served as his anchor to reality, like how his twelve songs were hers. Now it really seemed like she was an asshole, wanting to punch him, when Peter had quite literally gone through one hell of a childhood, like hers. Right now, she's sure that throughout the twenty over years, all he could hear in his mind was literal silence and nothing more, which would have drove him to insanity, she's very sure.

Good god.

Snapping herself back to reality, she stumbles over her words. "What do you do with it?"

"Do, nothing. You listen to it. Or you can dance."

Gamora laughs before leaning closer to his face, her voice just loud enough for him to hear. "I'm a warrior, and an assassin. I do _not_ dance."

"Really?" He raises his eyebrows in a mocking manner while leaning just a little more on the railing, "Well on my planet, there's a legend about people like you. It's called _Footloose._ And in it, a great hero, named Kevin Bacon, teaches an entire city, full of people with sticks up their butts, that dancing. . .well, it's the greatest thing there is."

His choice of words, to say the very least, confuses her.

"Who put the sticks up their butts? That's cruel."

Peter, quite possibly, cringes a little. "What? No, no. . .it's just a phrase we use."

Well, even if she didn't understand his dry humor that most obviously came from Earth, it did bring out a small chuckle in her, the grin on her lips returning. Her head turns just a little to look at Peter, maintaining eye contact. His eyes are now a slightly brighter shade of green, and quite possibly, she thinks, she likes it. The eye contact lasts a few more seconds, before he grabs his headphones and tries to place it over her head. At first, she ducks away just a little, afraid of the device, before Peter gently adjusts the headphones on her. 

That's when the music truly confirms her suspicions.

He _is_ her soulmate.

_But then I fooled around, and fell, in love. . .I fooled around and fell in love._

She contemplates the harmony, before yelling at the top of her voice, giving Peter a shock, "The melody is pleasant!"

It's after this that she notices him starting to get closer and closer, gently gripping her hand and raising it in his. His eyes are closed, and his head is tilted at an angle. For once, she muses, that maybe it's time she gives herself the chance to let loose and actually try. Her eyes watch Peter with every bit that he closes the gap - bit by bit, he inches closer, his lips almost on hers. Her eyes flutter close, their noses brushing against each other, and their lips almost touch. . .

* * *

She fiddles with the Zune, now replacing the crushed Walkman that Peter loved and cried about for the week after the events of Ego. She finally understands why those twelve songs were the only songs that ever played. They were, in a way, a representation of Peter's mother, who was unfortunately taken by the tumor that had been placed in her head by the bastard of a boyfriend and father, Ego. Even as he grew up to earn himself the name of being a legendary outlaw across the galaxy, his heart remained shattered by his mother's passing, and the Walkman remained his anchor and sanity in the mad world. 

And she understands that, because the only remaining things she has left to remind her of her parents are nothing but faded memories. 

Secretly, deep down, she wishes she had some sort of keepsake to remember them by.

They're seated side by side on the observatory deck, by the window. It's not a date, but it's one of the ways they spend their days when they travel through multiple jumps. They'd be able to only do 50 jumps at any one time, so they'll hit a point of having to rest before continuing the journey. While the others slept the night away, Gamora and Peter would always find themselves on the deck, huddled together. His arm drapes over her tiny shoulder frame, his knees gently pulled close to his chest. She has her head on his shoulder. In her hand held the Zune, connected to a pair of small earbuds that they've put on, one for each of them.

_Welcome to your life, there's no turning back, even while we sleep. We will find You acting on your best behavior, turn your back on mother nature. Everybody wants to rule the world. . ."_

"I like the beat of this song," She casually comments, her hand gently patting her thigh to the drum beat, "It's catchy."

"Come to think of it, this might be the first song we're listening to together, like in stereo!" Peter exclaims a little too loudly, much like an excited child at a selection of candy. Gamora lets out a rather exasperated chuckle, lifting her head to gaze at Peter, before leaning in for a kiss on his lips, her eyes fluttering close in the midst of the passion of it. They're slightly chapped, but she doesn't care about it. She tastes a sort of candy on his lips, which she assumes might be one of the candies in the pantry. Regardless, the kiss deepens just a bit more, before both of them pull away and snuggle impossibly closer to each other. 

"You know what would make this better? We could sing it together!"

Gamora rolls her eyes till the whites can be seen, but it's a playful expression. "No, Peter, I'm not about to sing with you, thank you very much." 

Peter deadpans, instantly becoming a whiny child, his lips pouting a little. He's sulking, but in a cute way that's just so Peter. She laughs a little more, before pecking his lips. 

Perhaps, she thinks, that when she's more confident about the way she sings, and when she's more confident of her capability to return the love he has given her all this time, she'll think about singing with him. Not that she doesn't love him, she just wants to confirm that the love is enough for them both to last. Despite her irrational fear, she does know that their love will last. Soulmates meet for a reason in the universe. Now that she's finally met hers - her idiot, her lovable, sulking mess of a boyfriend Peter, she's not about to let go of him. And now that she finally understands the reasons for the twelve songs that she's listened to in the last two decades, she finds that punching him isn't on the list anymore. Gamora wants to kiss the suffering away, which she knows it'll be a while, but she knows their love is more than enough.

Twelve songs were all they really needed to get to each other.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea first appeared on my Tumblr feed about a week back, for an idea for a soulmate fic. I am an absolute sucker for such fics and naturally, this fic _HAD_ to be created. With the help and permission of _elisha-am_ on tumblr, this fic took a life of its own and here we are.
> 
> I sincerely hope ya'll enjoyed this! This was an amazing piece to write, and will sadly be the last before I head back to school. Here is the original idea: http://elisha-am.tumblr.com/post/175037640905/soulmate-au-time-i-just-found-one-1-soulmate
> 
> Leave comments!


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